The Kansas Jayhawks, if you do not already know, are in hot water with the NCAA. They have been actually since 2017 and honestly I had almost forgotten they were under investigation to begin with, as this process has dragged on for years now and just needs to come to a conclusion but it won't because the NCAA is an organization with no real power now and refuses to let their last little inklings of authority over college athletics die. They don't want to come to a conclusion because they know it will look bad if any real further punishment is given given the fact that entities such as NIL and potentially even just outright paying players are coming to fruition. This move by KU is just another ploy to get this dumpster fire off their back.
If you cannot tell, I'm a bit bitter when it comes to talking about the NCAA. They've long been a circus, wielding no real power other than to just be a thorn in the side of college athletics organizations and athletes for decades. Unjustified punishment/lack thereof, calling non-profit in the face of for profit activities, and overall just being the annoying bureaucratic bully that actually holds major insecurities that are easily exploited. The things done under the table for these athletes by donors, coaches, recruiters, or athletics programs in general were never going to go away, but now that they're starting to come into the light and be done out in the open, in a way that complies with (now revised) NCAA guidelines. This is the NCAA's way of telling us they're a puppet show. "Protecting the spirit of amateurism." Psh, give me a break. You guys lost the ability to use that slogan the minute you started making billions off of student-athletes while they starved, through TV deals and sponsorships that could have gone to said players but didn't. The NCAA is a sham and always will be until they can actually govern effectively or completely fall off the face of the Earth.
I digress though, in the latest move by KU in order to protect from any outrageous indictment the NCAA tries to pursue (if any) KU has suspended men's basketball head coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townshend for 4 games in wake of this incredibly dragged out investigation. It's a way of telling the NCAA "We still see you, but we don't respect your all but baseless accusations. This is to cover our butts, not to appease you and your contradictory rules and values. We do not need to go further regarding punishment."
Listen folks, KU is going to be fine throughout this suspension. It was self-imposed (no pun intended) so it's not coming down from the NCAA, who is chomping at the bit to try and find something they can sink their teeth into and deal out major punishment. They're not going to find it, and even if they do it's going to look real bad with the way the NCAA is headed now with NIL and player compensation. I mean for God's sake y'all the players associated with this "scandal" aren't even affiliated with KU anymore. What you gonna suspend Brannen Greene and Carlton Bragg? Does the casual KU fan even know who those two guys are? My point being is this, this move was necessary as it makes sure the NCAA is appeased for the time being. It shows that KU will be cooperative, but it does not show that KU will respect the results of the investigation should the NCAA try to pin anything on them. A reminder that more than just KU was involved, as was more than just Adidas, in the claims the NCAA is making. Yet there are no investigations for them, are there? The age of "amateurism" is long gone, these guys are adults and sports is and always has been a business. Athletes can still be students, get scholarships (A reminder that most scholarships only cover tuition, room, and board, sometimes not even that.) , and get paid living wages. Nobody is getting hurt, there is no crime being committed by any college administration that we know of/that hasn't already been dealt with. What the Adidas reps and coaches directly involved did was wrong, and was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and until someone can PROVE that KU or any coaches actively knew about the funds coming from a shady and illegal source (Not the acceptance of the funds in general, as that has happened legally before and with WAY more companies than just Adidas) the NCAA has no dog in this fight. It is business as usual in college athletics, and it's time the NCAA recognized that. It should not take 5 years to resolve something such as this in a climate such as we have now. The NCAA is a sham organization until they can find something concrete regarding any actual criminal activity, not NCAA bylaw violating, criminal. I rest my case.
Burn Notice: 10/10 #BurnItDown and start over, NCAA
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